My own story

I grew up in London to middle income parents - born in the 1950’s, shortly after World War 2. Like many people from that generation, they grew up with money being tight – and that mentality (sadly) stayed with them for the rest of their lives. As a family, we travelled once or twice a year – normally around Europe. They would have loved to travel more, but always felt that money was too tight. My parents had this belief that by denying ourselves of holidays and other material things, we were somehow contributing to a greater good. They certainly did think it was possible to get paid to travel!

These ideas from my parents rubbed off on me and stayed with me to young adulthood. I travelled as much as I could, but I always viewed it as an expense that would never yield a return. As I embarked on my banking career, I was exposed to wealthier people who had different ideas about travel.

Things really changed when my daughter was born - I decided that I didn’t want to live how my parents lived. I wanted to show my daughter a different life. I became obsessed with points and miles, and was able to have some amazing experiences. Some examples include traveling in the Etihad 1st class Apartment and staying at the Conrad Maldives.

As I travelled in luxury, something even more astonishing happened. I saw that my luxury travels did not make me poorer, but actually paid for themselves. No matter how much I travelled, I did not have less money or wealth.

• Travel freed up my mind of daily nonsense, and enabled me to come up with business ideas that changed my life
• I met many people, who taught me different ways to view life
• Travel got me out of my comfort zone, and forced my mind to work faster
• I was able to set up this blog and earn an income from my travel experiences
• I maximised points promotions. There were times when the points earned from a flight or hotel would provide a rebate of 50% of the price paid

Now that I am an entrepreneur, I have seen this story repeated many times – luxury travel really can pay for itself! This is why my Twitter and Instagram profiles contain inspirational quotes to encourage people to travel more.

Become a blogger

One clear and actionable way to get paid to travel in luxury, is to start a travel blog, and share your exploits with the world.

A travel blog can make money in a number of ways:

• Affiliate marketing
• Advertising
• Sponsored Posts
• Your travel costs will become business expenses that you can deduct against revenues, and reduce your tax bill

Starting a blog is easier than it has ever been – check out my guide on how to start a travel blog in 4 weeks, and make money.

Get out of comfort zone

One of the most common things you hear from successful entrepreneurs, is that you need to get out of your comfort zone to really succeed in life. But that is easier said than done – what does it really mean? You could decide not to speak to any of your friends, and to make new friends. That would get you out of your comfort zone - but you’re not going to do that, are you?!

The simplest way to get out of your comfort zone is to travel to new lands, and experience new cultures. To be in a new country with a different language and customs is a challenge. My experience is clear - the more I went to new places, the greater the challenge and the faster my mind worked. The skills learned from travel have remained with me for life.

Earn points and miles

By travelling, you will earn hotel points and air miles - which can provide a significant rebate on your travel costs. Typically, hotel loyalty programs provide a 10% rebate on the price you pay, and airline programs offer considerably less. However, there have been many occasions where I have received a rebate of 50% by maximising promotions.

• I spent £1,000 ($1,250) on a Lufthansa Business flight from London to Singapore. I earned a massive rebate by crediting the air miles to Singapore Airlines Krisflyer
• Accelerate is a promo from IHG, where they offer a large amount of points if you can hit personalised targets

Clearly, earning points and miles is not enough to get paid to travel the world, but it can help a lot!

Come up with great ideas

During my travels, I have had many great ideas about business and life, and there is a good chance that you have experienced the same. Why is this? By leaving your routine behind, you clear your mind of the daily clutter and free yourself to think about the bigger things in life. Some of my very best and lifechanging ideas, came while I was on vacation.

At home, we are often stuck in our routine:

• Go to work
• Go home
• Look after children/spouse
• Get drunk on weekend
• Recover from hangover
• Repeat

This sort of lifestyle gives very little freedom for your mind to think about the big picture items. But it is only big picture items that can change your life!

This concept is similar to why so many people meditate – in order to clear their mind of daily clutter and think about the bigger things. On a personal level, I do a headstand daily, in order to free my mind of clutter!

Law of attraction

My final justification comes from the left field and is the law of attraction. The Law of Attraction is very simple – if you want something, then desire it and focus on it, and it will become a reality. It works the other way too – if you focus and worry about something bad, then your thoughts will make it a reality.

With regards to luxury travel, if you desire to take an amazing trip, then the means to take that trip will appear from somewhere. It may sound too good to be true - however it something that I and many other successful people believe in.

On a practical level, if you desire to stay at a wonderful hotel, then you will look out for opportunities to make this happen. On the flip side, when I was a child, my parents were adamant that luxury travel was not for them. So they would not have been open to the opportunities that were there.

The Law of Attraction is something that many successful people in world swear by – one such example being Oprah Winfrey.

On a spiritual level, the law of attraction is often related to religion and philosophy. I happen to believe that there is a higher power, and that someone is listening to our wishes and desires. In my personal experience, the more I travelled in luxury, the more I desired it and the more it became a reality. It became possible to get paid to travel the world!

Personally, I think that the relationship between religion and the law of attraction is logical. The law of attraction is not provable by science, but is something that needs to be believed in – much like belief in a spiritual power. FYI: All believers and non-believers are welcome to my blog!

Conclusion

Through a combination of the above ideas, I have found that luxury travel not only pays for itself but does so many times over. On a basic level, travel can earn a large rebate on the cost, through points and miles. On a deeper level, travel has expanded my mind, and enabled me to come up with ideas that have changed my life